Send in the Beasts
by Chimera of Ebony
Summary: A circus has made its way to Bayville, but the X-Men soon realizes that something strange is going on behind the curtains. I have tried to conclude as many X-Men as possible. No pairings.
1. Chapter 1

**So, this is the firt time I have ever done an X-Men: Evolution fanfiction, so I hope you will enjoy it.**

**I don't think there is much else to be said. I don't own X-Men, but I somehow hope that most of you already knew that.**

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"I got it, I got it!"

It was somehow bound to happen – wasn't it always whenever it came to the young mutants playing a game, that had originally been labelled as a "no powers' game"?

Beast shook his head, though a minor smile couldn't help but show on the blue face of his. And there it was.

Having the ball out of reach, Cannonball instinctively shot himself backwards, just barely hitting the volleyball before he continued backwards out of the playing field. It was like a domino effect. On the other side of the net, Iceman shot a ball of ice to hit the actual ball before it could fly off into the trees. So much for those rules. He watched the ball being smashed violently back and forth, until Sunspot managed to knock it off so hard that it disappeared out somewhere over the cliff several yards behind them. Well, Beast was quite honestly just glad that it hadn't been a student out there. New equipment could be repurchased; students couldn't.

"Alright people, let's call it a day," he called to the mutants, who cheered at each other and the winning team gave each other a couple of high fives. There were no sore losers. Perhaps they had used up all their energy for today? No, the large teacher knew better than that. The teenagers ran towards the building of the Xavier Institute with eager, leaving Beast behind. They were usually quite energetic, but today there seemed to be something else in the air around the youngsters. Taking his time, he walked up to the door of the Institute and saw Jean and Scott on their way down the path leading to the garage.

Beast reached for the handle of the front door, when he suddenly saw Kitty run straight through the door – and through him… He gave a low gasp, feeling the sensation of something running through his body.

"Sorry Mr. McCoy," Kitty called over her shoulder before hightailing after Scott and Jean. He stood there for a few seconds, blinking. Something was apparently attracting the attention of all the students tonight. He opened the door and walked into the hall. He soon spotted Rogue coming down the stairs, a lot calmer than anyone he had encountered that afternoon. There was no smile to be seen on her face, as she walked down towards the blue-furred mutant. Beast studied her for a moment as she, instead of heading for the front door, turned left to walk towards a closed door.

"Are you not going with the others?" he asked the young woman and watched her turn her body towards him. He felt a bit sorry for her. It was hot outside, and yet she was packed up in clothes from her shoulders and down. He sure could do without the fur at this temperature.

"Oh, no. I'm not that much into circuses."

So that was what all this fuss was about. He had read in the newspaper that there along with the carnival was a circus by the harbour that had, according to the article, been everywhere in the world and had artists from all parts of the globe. The article had been brought with most astonishing pictures and a promise that one would be amazed for certain. But he would have to hear about that when the students got back.

Beast tilted his head with a smile, walked up to the door Rogue was standing by and opened it for her.

"Well then, perhaps you would join me for a game of chess?" he asked, gesturing for Rogue to walk inside with his large hand. Rogue smiled; it was one of her usual smiles. Not very big, but still as honest as anyone else could have given him.

"Sure thing, Mr. McCoy."


	2. Chapter 2

**Yes, chapter two - hope you enjoy.**

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Scott couldn't help but raise an eyebrow behind the sunglasses. The price for getting into the circus was relatively high, but his curiosity, and the opportunity to be relatively alone with Jean, made him pay anyhow. The red-haired woman grabbed his arm as they walked into the large tent. As Scott looked around for a good seat, he breathed in the smells around him. It had been a while since he had been to see a show in a real circus. Suddenly, he felt Jean dragging at his arm, pointing to a spot up in front.

"Let's go over there," she encouraged him, and Scott followed without hesitation. Why the spots hadn't been taken was a mystery – it was the only remaining space not occupied on the front row.

'And best of all, no X-kids,' he thought to himself.

They could just barely sit there, but it was none the less magnificent seats. The tent filled up quickly, the seats crowded with people and the voices filled up the large tent. He could spot Kitty and Kurt at another seat, and Kurt waved at them.

A spotlight illuminated the space in the middle, making the entire crowd silent. A small man with a big belly raised his arms to the crowd.

"Ladies and gentlemen," the man called in a loud voice, "Prepare to be amazed by our great artists. First, let me introduce our magnificent Trapeze artists!"

The crowd looked up, as the spotlights lit up the air above them. Two men and a woman stood on small planks several meters above them and with no net for security below them. The music started and one of the men threw himself out into the open air, making the audience gasp. Before anyone could react, the woman swung out from her plank, standing on a trapeze that just in time made it out for the man to catch it. The three of them swung, jumped and dazzled the crowd of people with their wild stunts in the air, several times leading the audience to believe that one of them was going to fall to the ground.

One show was brought in after the other and the people on the plank seats applauded and whistled in awe.

"And now, the grand finale: Our brave animal tamer, Mr. Maliz!" The light faded once again and came back in a matter of mere seconds. A tall, muscular and bold man stood with a whip raised over his head in a beam of light. His skin was dark and he had a pair of piercing eyes that could probably scare anyone to death if they met him on a dark rainy night. He took his time to let his gaze run over the audience, before he took a few steps backwards and grabbed a hold on a cloth hanging over some kind of big cube. Dragging the cloth aside, a huge brown bear threw itself against the metal bars of the cage it was in. The metal creaked under the blow, making the crowd gasp out of fear for it to break and unlock the savage animal.

Mr. Maliz raised his hand to silence the crowd and flashed a grin. The cage was pushed further into the stage, showing that it was quite large. The animal tamer handed the whip over to a young kid who had apparently helped with pushing the cage – and then he simply opened the cage and walked in to the growling bear, not concerning himself with closing the door behind him. The kid jumped back, fear and amazement flashing in his eyes. Behind him, Scott could make out the expressions of the other circus artists in the dark. They didn't look scared, but he could still see some tension in their faces. It had to mean that it wasn't just a trick with a tamed bear.

The animal eyed Maliz dangerously, a snarl growing on its snout as it stood up on its hind legs. Its head touched the ceiling of the cage and it lifted its front paws, ready to strike with its claws. Scott was sure that the man was going to receive a blow to his head.

Maliz raised his hand and placed it around the snout of the bear, dragging it downwards and making the bear lay its head flat on the floor. Again, Maliz flashed a grin at the audience on the other side of the bars, letting his hand slip away from the snout of the beast.

"It's all about letting them know who is in charge," he called out to the crowd and took a step away from the bear and turned his back to it. There was a minor flaw that Scott couldn't help but worry about – if the bear jumped straight forward, it would flew right through the opening and out to the people who didn't have a chance to know how to "make the bear know who was in charge".

And surely, the bear lifted its head, clearly looking at the exit. Slowly it rose to standing on all four, its head turning to Maliz' back. The crowd started to mumble uneasily to each other. Should they call out to him that the bear was moving? That they were afraid of it coming out to them?

Perhaps it was the tension or a sixth sense, but as soon as the bear lifted its paw from the floor, Maliz spun around and slapped it across the snout, making the bear back with a low roar.

He performed a few more tricks with it. Showing the fangs by opening the bear's mouth by force and showing how he could stick his hand into its mouth without it biting it off. At last he stepped out and closed the metal door behind him, making the audience sigh in relief. He watched the cage being dragged backwards and the small, chubby man jumped back in on the stage again to address the people.

"Our last performance tonight and last performance in Bayville. Please, be not afraid; Mr. Maliz has everything under control." And with that, the light faded. Scott couldn't help but wonder what it was they could be afraid of. Not unless the animal was running freely around the-

A loud roar echoed through the tent, the crowd sitting tensely in their seats. Suddenly Jean gasped, grabbing a hold on Scott's arm.

"Scott, something just brushed against my legs!"


	3. Chapter 3

**Yes yes, chapter three. I still hope you'll enjoy it.**

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Jean dragged back her legs in shock, for the first time tonight telling herself that she shouldn't have worn a short skirt.

Jean had just warned Scott about something touching her as the light came back to life and they were starring at a tiger standing too close for comfort before them. It turned its head to look at them, barring its teeth and let out a growl. If they had reached out their hands, they could have touched the orange head. Scott almost reached up to tear off his glasses to protect the people in the tent.

A sharp snap echoed over their heads and the large feline turned and walked closer to the centre of the stage. Maliz walked over to it, keeping his focus more on the audience than on the beast he had running loose around him. Jean couldn't help but frown a bit. This Mr. Maliz was a bit too self-centred to work with something as dangerous as this. He didn't even seem to care that it was a predator he had circling around him.

The kid and his companions came out on the stage again, bringing out a series of rings standing on metal piles. The boys set one of them on flames and ran back into the shadows of the back. The tiger, upon seeing the ring light up, crouched down uneasily and growled. Maliz, on the contrary, seemed to light up just as the flames did with the rings and instantly snapped the whip.

The tiger hissed, but circled to the other side, jumping through the burning ring in one leap and landing steadily on the other side. Maliz snapped the whip again and a boy came running in to set the second ring on fire and place it next to the other to form a longer tube. After letting the whip rip through the air, the tiger jumped through the two rings at once and Maliz waited for the boy to come back and light the last ring. The boy's black hair bounced as he ran closer and he suddenly looked out from under it to the tiger. He stopped dead in his tracks, as the tiger turned its head and growled at him, taking a step in the kid's direction. It lowered its head, like it was hunting for its prey. Maliz, having had his attention on the audience, turned around to see the tiger take yet another step. He raised the whip and let it smack the tiger's back, making the large cat roar out in shock and turning around in a swift jump. He glared at the boy, who hurried to set the last ring on fire, get it in place and ran as fast as he could out of the ring. The tiger hesitated, looking at the rings blazing. Maliz made a snap with the whip, but the tiger didn't move at once. With a growl like an animal, the human took a step forward and lashed out at the tiger's paw with the whip. It jumped instantly, passing through the first two rings. As it came out on the other side of the third ring, its back legs hit the bottom of the ring. Only few had probably noticed anything, for they clapped at the man who bowed to all sides and took in the applaud. The tiger squatted a bit, clearly having hurt its feet on the ring.

"That is all for tonight. We hope you have enjoyed the show!" the chubby man called to the audience. Jean looked back to see where the tiger had gotten. Maliz walked up beside it, grabbing it in the neck and dragged it forward by force.

"You brute…" a voice said close by. Jean looked around, but no one was looking at the stage as of now.

"That hurts," the voice said again, and something suddenly dawned on Jean as she followed Scott and the rest of the audience out of the tent. As soon as it was possible, she dragged Scott to the side and away from the stream of people leaving to either head home with their kids or see the rest of the carnival before it closed down.

Scott almost tripped upon being dragged to the side, and he looked at Jean in an attempt to figure out what was on the loose. She had a tight grip on his hand, leading him around the tent. She had a determined look in her eyes, as she got to the other side of the tent just in time to see Maliz almost throw the tiger into the back of a circus wagon while yelling at the animal.

"You almost ruined it, you stupid cat," he hissed at it, smacking the door shut with a loud blow and put the lock on, "There's no food for you until we reach the next city." The tiger looked much less savage now, its head slumped down as it followed the human with its eyes.

"Jean, would you please tell me what this is about?" Scott tried, but Jean had her eyes focused on Maliz and some of the other circus people who ran around to get their things packed up. Maliz opened the door to the driver's seat and was about to get in.

"I'll explain later," Jean said in a hurried voice, dragging her friend with her towards the wagon. Maliz looked back to see a woman with red hair and a man with glasses coming his way. He turned to them, keeping his hand on the door.

"Can I help you?" his rough voice asked, eyeing them up and down. He was bigger than they had both thought him to be, but Jean had no intension of turning back now.

"Ehm, yes, you can," she started, her eyes wandering from the bulky man to the wagon cage, "We want to buy your tiger."

"You what?" Maliz asked.

"We what?!" Scott asked in an even more surprised tone, staring at Jean with his mouth open. What the heck was she doing? He received a push from her elbow, closing his mouth.

"God, don't tell me you're one of those freaky animal activists. It's just a dumb beast, it's not like it has any feelings." Maliz said coldly and prepared to get into the driver's seat.

"No no, we're not, it's just," Jean paused. What the heck was she going to say? She tried to think of something, knowing that this plan wasn't very well thought through. "It's just, we really want it. Money's not a problem."

Maliz actually looked like he considered it for a moment, but then broke into a grin.

"Hah! You almost got me there, girlie," he chuckled half heartedly, "You won't get this little kitty, so I suggest you just go home."

Jean just looked at Maliz walking into the driver's house, all hope lost. She felt Scott tugging on her shoulder and she turned to look at him.

"Come on, let's go," he encouraged her and she gave in, walking away.

After a few yards, Scott coughed. "What was that about? I know he didn't treat them good, but…"

Jean shook her head and looked up at him. He could still see the urgency in her green eyes, and he slowly started to understand that there was more to it than he thought.

"Scott, that wasn't an animal," she tried to explain, looking at Scott tilting his head, "I think it's a mutant."

Scott opened his mouth to speak, but closed it again when he could think of nothing good to say. The words slowly sunk in, as he watched Jean fumble for words as well.

"I heard its thoughts, you have to believe me."

"I believe you," Scott instantly replied, placing his hands on her shoulders. He blinked twice, realisation hitting him, "We have to call the professor."


	4. Chapter 4

Alright. Chapter 4 - and no reviews. I'll give it a chance anyway, in case someone would suddenly trip over the story and like it.

And at the beginning, I said that I didn't own anything - Well, I own Maliz and someone that you will be introduced to later.

But enjoy the show.

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Charles raised his head at the sound of the phone ringing. The book in his hands was gently put down in his lap and he rolled over to the table where the phone was sitting. He already knew it was Scott and he couldn't help but wonder why he would call now. He lifted the phone and answered it like he always did whenever Scott called him.

"Hello Scott."

He knew it still made Scott a bit startled whenever he did that, but it felt wrong to answer like he didn't know who it was when he did.

He felt something was wrong as soon as he had answered.

"Professor, we've found a mutant and it needs our help," Scott blurted out in the phone, making Charles blink and quirk an eyebrow.

"It?"

It was apparently rather complicated and Scott spoke in a voice that indicated that the questions could be asked later and under other circumstances.

"Alright, I will send Logan and the others to meet you. Have you found the other X-Men at the carnival?"

Rogue walked in, seeing Xavier with the phone and nodding at whatever the person in the other line said. She didn't want to disturb, but she didn't like the look on the professor's face either. As he put the phone down, she took a step forward without a word. The professor folded his hands and closed his eyes for a short while, before looking up at her.

"Is something wrong?" she asked, walking the few remaining steps to get up close to the man in the wheelchair.

"Apparently Scott and Jean have come across another mutant," Charles replied. Even in situations like these, he always managed to keep his voice calm, "Meet up with Wolverine and Beast at the X-Van. I will try to keep track on this new mutant using Cerebro."

Rogue nodded and ran down to where the uniforms hang. It didn't take long before she was suited up and she headed out of the Institute and towards the garage. It had darkened outside, but the summer sun still gave her some light to see her surroundings. She saw Beast stand by the garage door and hurried over to him. Wolverine was already sitting ready at the wheel, and the two mutants jumped in just as the driver gassed up and drove out, the gates opening for them to get out and then closed firmly behind them again.

Beside the sound of the engine pumping, it was quiet in the van. Rogue looked quickly from one side to the other before deciding to break the silence.

"So, what's that about a new mutant?" she asked, wondering why they were in such a hurry and why they all were needed on the spot.

"Apparently, there's a mutant being held captive by the travelling circus," Beast explained, "He, or she, was used as part of an act."

Rogue blinked. "That's awful," she exclaimed, not able to picture what kind of act the mutant had been part in. Somehow, it couldn't have been a trick where the audience could see it was a mutant – they would have hated the show just because of what the person was. And how was it possible for them to keep him trapped. Wouldn't the police have jumped in if they noticed something wrong?

'Unless he looks like Kurt or Mr. McCoy,' Rogue couldn't help but think. Was it possible that people wouldn't think of him as much of a human if that was the case? It was hard to believe, and yet not so hard after all, thinking about how people had acted up when they had first been exposed as mutants.

Wolverine stopped the car rather violently, parking right next to the mutant group who had been at the carnival. The sun had set and people had left the circus area to take the last tours in the amusement instalments near it. It was their luck that the two sections were divided like this. It meant that they were relatively alone. Most of the circus personnel had went out to party along with the rest of Bayville, leaving only a few remaining in their sleeping wagons on the far eastern side of the circus section.

Rogue, Wolverine and Beast jumped out and looked to the four students.

"So, what exactly are we looking for?" Wolverine asked with a raised eyebrow, mostly looking to Jean and Scott. Even though they had hurried out of the Xavier Mansion, they had been told before hand that it was those two who knew most about it.

"A tiger," Jean responded, "Unless she has turned to human form." Jean didn't actually know if the mutant could do that, but she took it for granted.

Wolverine nodded. "Where is it now?"

Jean pointed to the wagon areas behind the large tent and the group walked over to search. Jean and Scott walked directly to the wagon where they had encountered Maliz earlier. But when they walked over to it, they couldn't find a tiger, nor a human.

"Where did it go?" Scott asked himself, looking around, "The tiger were here when we went to the phone booth." Could it be the wrong wagon? Or had Maliz taken it somewhere else? It seemed unlikely. Where else than in a cage would he keep a tiger?

"Spread out," Wolverine ordered, making them split and walk in each their direction, though keeping together two and two constantly. They looked around the place, walking around the tent and slipping in beside the different wagons, but they couldn't see any other wagons fit for animal transport.

Kurt and Kitty had gone together, but upon finding nothing they returned to meet up with the others by the cage wagon.

"Nothing," Kurt remarked, as everyone was present, "Where could she be?"

"It's strange, isn't it?" Kitty suddenly said, "Like, there was a bear as well – then why is there only one cage?"

"Maybe they already drove the bear away?" Kurt suggested.

"Or, maybe he only has one animal," Beast looked to the cage, "If she can change into a tiger, she may as well be able to look like a bear as well."

"Right," Wolverine crossed his arms, annoyance clearly heard in his voice, "Then what does it look like now? Who even says it's still here?"

Well, that was the big question. She could have very well just run away on her own. But, why not do it before now if she could? Jean lifted her hand to her forehead and closed her eyes, concentrating. Upon opening her eyes again, she looked at Wolverine.

"No, she's still here, and close."

Beast still looked at the cage.

"Nightcrawler, try taking a peak inside," he told Kurt, who nodded and disappeared in a puff of smoke and reappeared inside the cage. He peered around, but then looked out on the others.

"What exactly am I looking for?"

"Anything that moves," Beast smiled, his large blue hand grabbing around one of the metal bars of the cage as he looked at the teenager. Kurt still looked human, having his holowatch switched on. Kurt blinked, looking a bit uneasy. Nevertheless, he took a step forward, his eyes mostly looking to the floor and the hay. The other X-Men studied him as he went, watching him kick up some of the hay as he looked.

"You need a hand?" Kitty phased through the bars and was about to get up when a bone was suddenly thrown at Kurt. Kitty gasped and fell backwards, landing on the hard ground among the X-Men. Kurt just barely dodged the bone, feeling it hitting his arm instead of his face.

"Hey!" he cried, lowering his arms just in time to see a new bone come flying at him.

"Mein Gott, was ist dass?" he backed away, suddenly seeing something sitting in the corner. It was small and hidden in the shadows, but it was clear that it had used the hay as cover and was sitting with yet another bone in its hand.

"Easy now," Beast tried speaking to the thing in the corner. The thing froze, its head turned to Beast. Kurt, seeing an opportunity, quickly reached down and grabbed the bone thrower by the neck and lifted it up. It started screaming at him in a high pitched voice and hit him on the arm with the bone. Kurt dropped it, making the animal fall to the ground.

"It's a… monkey?" Scott blinked behind the glasses. Was this their mutant? The little thing was small enough to slip out between the metal bars and make a run for it. Wasn't it clever enough for that?

The monkey waved the bone back and forth angrily, backing up against the corner again. Jean walked up to the cage, stretching in a hand.

"Please, we're here to help you."

The monkey lowered the bone, making a few chipping noises and looked around. It eyed every one of them in turn and scratched its head.

"Come on, drop your weapon," Jean smiled, and the monkey hesitantly obeyed, placing it gently beside it, though still in reach. "There we go. Can you come out to us?"

It hesitated, looking from Jean's hand and to her face. Suddenly it looked up and dashed back into the haystack it had hidden itself in before. Wolverine spun around, sniffing the air.

"Someone's coming."

The X-men jumped out of view, Kurt disappearing in an instant. So far the plan was to figure out if the mutant was truly kept there against her will – and then they would judge if they needed to just simply bust her out or if they should try to confront the animal trainer.

Speaking of which, Maliz came up to the wagon, slowly and with eyes watching the surrounding area. He could have sworn he saw shadows by the cage. He stopped, standing where Jean and the others had just been themselves. As of now, they were hiding behind another wagon, watching his every move.

Maliz grinned, his teeth lighting up like the fangs of a beast. He looked to the cage and leaned against it.

"So, was "Red" coming by to say hello?" he asked mockingly at the animal in the cage. The monkey let out a few chipping sounds that the X-Men could barely hear from their spot.

"Oh, don't give me that shit," Maliz hissed angrily at the animal, slamming a knuckled fist against the metal bars with full force. The echo of the blow and the monkey's surprised cry rang through the air, "Talk to me, you lousy freak!"

A few seconds of silence passed and it was possible for a few of the mutants to see that something appeared inside the cage. It must have spoken, because Maliz looked pleased for a moment.

"Just some kids, huh?" he replied. His voice was lower, more controlled now, "And they just wanted to see the little monkey… how cute. Go back to the tiger; it'll look better as we go."

Maliz turned around and walked to the driver's side of the wagon. He opened the door, got in and slammed it shut, the engine of the truck coming to life with a coughing sound.

"So he knows," Scott glared at the wagon angrily. Beast had been right – he only needed one cage since he had a mutant that could do more than one act. It quite honestly disgusted him.

"Well, we have to do something, he's getting away," Kitty said, stepping out of their hiding place.

Wolverine, sneered, turning his head.

"Get to the X-Van."


End file.
